Engine-starting apparatus.



E. A. HALBLEIB. ENGINE STARTING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED OGT.9, 1911.

1,068,427. Patented July 29, 1913.

@M 25M r I I @frv-LB QSM T UNITED sTATEs PATENT. OFFICE. I

EDWARD A. HALIBLEIIB, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO NORTH EAST ELEG- TRIC COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ENGINE-STARTING- APPARATUS.

.1-,oes,427.

specification of Letters Patent. .Patented July 29, 1913. Application filed October 9,1911. Serial No. 653,671.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD A. HALB-LEIB, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and plication of power to the crank-shaft of the engine, such power being supplied'by an electric motor or otherwise. The amount of power required is so great, however, that apparatus of this kind is bulky and expens1ve. proposed to employ as the source of power anelectric device which operates normally as a generator to supply current for charging a storage-battery, and for the operation of the ignition-devices and electric-lights of a vehicle on which the engine is employed.

Such an arrangement, however, when used wlth an englne of large size necessltates the use of an electric device larger than 1s ord1- narily necessary, and also the use of a stor age-battery of considerable capacity. In

so introduced.

The object of the present invention is to produce starting-apparatus which will operate reliably under all conditions, but in which an undue expenditure of power or electricity is unnecessary.

I have discovered that in starting-apparatus of the second type above referred to the starting operation is facilitated and rendered more certain if the engine is actuated at the same time that the combustible mixture or fuel is introduced into the engine, although the movement so imparted to the engine may be much slower than is necessary to start the engine by such movement alone. Accordingly I propose to arrange the apparatus in such a manner that fuel or motive- In this connection it has been furtherfiuid is pumped, or otherwise introduced, into the engine by means independent of or supplemental to the means by which the combustible mixture is ordinarily supplied, while at the same time the engine-shaft may be automatically rotated,thus combining the advantages of both of the methods of starting above described, while not requiring the expenditure of a great amount of power.

As a further provision for economy in expenditure of power in the apparatus, I so arrange the apparatus that in the starting operation the engine may or may not be rotated simultaneously with the introduction of motive-fluid. Owing to this arrangement the operator may first throw the apparatus into operation in such a manner as simply to introduce the motive-fluid while the engine is stationary, as this operation is frequently sufficient for the required result. If, however, the engine fails to start when the apparatus is so operated, the mechanism for rotating the engine-shaft may then be thrown into operation, thus insuring the starting of the engine at the second attempt.

A further feature of the present arrangement by which the starting operation is ren dered more certain resides in the novel arrangement of the means for introducing the motive-fluid to the engine-cylinders, this arrangement being such that the fluid is introduced into only one cylinder at a time,

and. the engine is thus relieved from the necessity of compressing a charge in another cylinder when started in motion by the first impulse; and in this connection I further provide a reservoir of substantial capacity for compressed motive-fluid, so that as soon The drawing is a diagrammaticrepresentation of apparatus embodyingthe present invention, as employed 1n connection with a typical internal-combustion engine.

The invention is illustrated as employed in connection with an ordinary four-cycle gasolene engine such as is commonly em-- ployed on motor-vehicles of various kinds,

countershaft is in alinement with the shaft 18 of the electric device 17, which is preferably a direct-current electric generator of the shunt-wound type. During the normal operation of the engine the shafts 16 and 18 are coupled together, so that the generator is actuated by the engine. A suitable coupling for this purpose is illustrated as comprising a member 19 fixed to the shaft 16 and provided with projections adapted to be engaged by jaws on a movable couplingmember 20. The member 20 is splined upon the shaft 18, so that it may be moved into or out of engagement with the member 19. In its normal position the coupling-members are-in operative engagement, so that the shafts rotate together, and at this time the generator is rotated at a speed which is determined by the ratio between the sprockets 13 and 15. The coupling-member 20 is thrown into and out of engagement with the member 19 by means of a lever 22 adapted for manual operation.

The electric device is conne& ed with a storage-battery, so that whenkenilzrating as a generator it charges the battery. To this end a wire 23 leads from one terminal of the electric device, and from this wire current flows through. a return-current cut-out 25, and a wire 26 to the storage-battery 24, and returns thence through a return-wire 28 to the electric device. The cutout 25 is a device adapted to permit current to flow freely in one direction, but to resist the return-flow of the current, being employed in the present connection to prevent thereverse flow of current through the electric device when the apparatus is at rest. Instruments for this purpose are well known, and the construction of the cut-out is not, therefore, described herein, as it may be of any ordinary or suitable form. The wires 26 and 28 constitute main-conductors through which current may be led from the storage-battery and the electric device to electric lamps 29, or any other devices in which it may be desired to employ the current, this arrangement being particularly useful in connection with an automobile. The current may also be employed, in the usual manner, in connection with the electric ignition-devices of the engine, which are not shown herein, but which may be supplied with current through leadwires 30 connected with the wires 26 and 28.

The parts of the apparatus which are employed exclusively in connection with the starting-operation include gearing by which the rotation of the shaft 18 of the electric device may be transmitted in reduced ratio to the countershaft l6, and thus to the engine-shaft, and means operating simultaneously to produce an explosive mixture and force it into the engine. The gearing just referred to includes a pinion 33, which isintegral with the clutch-member 20. -Adj acent the pinion, but normally out of mesh therewith, is a gear When the clutch-member 20 is moved rearwardly' by means of the lever 22, as shown in the figure, the pinion 33 engages the gear 32, which, accordingly, may be rotated by power transmitted from the electric device through the shaft 18, while at the same time direct connection between the shaft 18 and the countershaft 16 is interrupted. A second gear 34 is fixed to a shaft 35 parallel with the shaft 18 and a second pinion 36 on this shaft meshes with a gear 37 fixed on the countershaft 16. The gearing just described normally rotates idly, but the gear 34 is so located that upon a full rearward movement of the pinion 33 the pinion may engage the gear 34L as well as the gear 32, thus imparting rotation, through the shaft 35, to the countershaft 16 and thence to the engine-shaft, the rotation of the latter being .much slower than that of the shaft 18 owing to the interposition of the gearing.

The means mixture and forcing it into the engine comprises an airpump 40, of which the piston 41 is actuated by a pitman 42 connected with a crank-pin on the gear 32. This air-pump draws combustible mixture from an auxiliary carbureter 43, which may be of any ordinary or suitable form, and forces it through a pipe 44. The carbureter 43 is preferably smaller than the regular carbureter 12 of the engine, or is otherwise adapted to operate properly with the comparatively small flow of air produced by the air-pump, so as to produce a combustible mixture, and this carburetermay be supplied with fuel through a pipe 45 leading to any suitable source, such, for example, as the fuel-rank from which the regular carbureter 12 is supplied.

To permitr'the electric device 17 to receive current from the storage-battery and operate as a motor it is necessary to temporarily interrupt the action of the cut-out 25, and as shown a shunt-circuit around the cut-out,

for producing combustible.

controlled by a circuit-controller comprising a movable contact-arm 47 and av fixed con- 'tact 48. The contact-arm is connected, by a and through the electric device.

rod46, with the clutch-lever .22, so that when the apparatus is in operative position the shunt-circuit is closed, thus permitting current to flow freely around the cut-out When the current flows in this manner the electric device operates as a motor, in the same direction of rotation as when it is operated as a generator, and accordingly the air-pump is actuated, producing and compressing explosive mixture, and at the same time the engine-shaft may or may not be .slowly rotated, according to the position of the clutch-lever. From the pipe 44 the combustible mixture is discharged into the engine cylinders through a distributer, which operates automatically to discharge the mixture into that cylinder in which the piston has come to rest during what is normally the expansion-stroke, as shown in the cylinder illustrated in the figure. This distributor is illustrated as comprising a casing '53 pro-- vided with four outlet-ports communicating, through pipes 54, with the respective cylinders of the engine. A rotary valvemember 56, provided with a suitable port, is fixed to a shaft 57, which may be the usual half-time shaft of the engine, and may also actuate the ignition-timer 59 in the usual manner. The pipe 44: communicates the combustible mixture to the casing of the distributer, and the valve-member 56 is so positioned that it transmits the mixture to the several cylinders in succession, as each cylinder reaches the dead-center and begins 7 its expansion-stroke A reservoir 58, interposed in the pipe 44, provides for the introduction of a second compressed charge of combustible mixture to the engine after the first starting-impulse has been produced. It will be apparent that while the pump is supplying the first cylinder of the engine with mixture under pressure, it is also accumulating a supply in this reservoir, and accordingly, when the engine starts to rotate, and the first charge is ignited, the combustible mixture so stored is ready for introduction into the second cyl- 'inder of the engine, when the distributer asclutch-lever 22 so as to cause the pinion 33 to engage the gear 32, but not far enough to engage the gear 34. Accordingly the apparatus is first opera-ted without rotating the engine and thus with a very slight expenditure of electricity. If, however, the impulse produced is insuflicient to rotate the engine-shaft and start the engine, the clutchlever may then be moved to the full extent, thus causing the gearing to rotate the en gine-shaft, so that. starting-impulses are re.- peated inthe successive cylinders until the engine attains sufficient speed to operate nor mally.

It is desirable to introduce the combustible mixture to the cylinders adjacent the spark-plugs, so as to insure the presence of rich combustible mixture at the point of ignition. Accordingly, the spark-plug 51 is shown as screwed into a hollow member 50, which in turn is screwed into the cylinder-head. The combustible mixture is introduced through a branch-connection, by

which it is discharged into the space di rectly beneath the spark points of the spark pl11g,'tl111S insuring the presence of a certain amount of combustible mixture adjacent the point of ignition. A check-valve 55 of any ordinary or suitable form may be used to prevent the egress of hot gases from the cylinder through the pipe 54, when the en gine is normally operating.

While the apparatus above described is arranged to rotate the engine-shaft by power derived from the electric device, this rotation is so slow, owing to the use of there duction-gearing, that comparatively little power is expended, and the electric device and the storage-ha ttery may, therefore, be of moderate size and capacity.

A valuable feature of the provision for rotating the engine-shaft during the starting-operation, by means of the reductiongearing connecting it with the electric device, resides in the factthat an engine having less than six cylinders frequently comes to rest with its moving parts in such position that none of the pistons is in a position favorable for receiving a starting-impulse,

that is, near the beginning of its expansion-.

sume the requiredposition. Accordingly,

the actuation of the engineis of value m 1nsuring the starting-o-peratlon, eventhough reliance be placed entirely upon the impulse pump and the engine-cylinders, an electric -1notor connected with the pump and adapted to actuate it independently of the engine, and driving-connections whereby the electric motor may be thrown into or out of connection with the engine to actuate the engine, at will, simultaneously with the pump.

2. The combination, with a multi-cylinder internal-combustion engine, of engine-starting apparatus comprising a storage-battery, an electric device connected with and normally actuated by the engine and operating as a generator to charge the battery, but adapted also to operate as a motor when energized by current from the battery, and to actuate the engine, a source of supply of compressed motive-fluid, connections between said'source of supply and the enginecylinder, including an automatic selector, and manually-operable means for throwing the-electric device into operation, as a motor and for controlling the supply of motivefluid to the engine-cylinders to start the engine.

3. The combination with a multi-cylinder internal-combustion engine, of engine-starting apparatus comprising a storage-battery, an electric device connected with and nor mally actuated by the engine and operating as a generator to charge the battery, but adapted also to operate as a motor when energized by current from the battery, speedreduclng gearing by which the electric device may be connected with the engine to actuate the latter when operating as a motor, a pump adapted to be connected with and actuated by the electric-device, connections between' the pump and the enginecylinders inclfilingan automatic selector, and manually-operable means for throwing the electric device into operation as a motor to actuate simultaneously the engine and the pump.

4. The combination, with a multicylinder internal combustion engine, of starting apparatus comprising a pump, an electric device for actuating the pump, an automatic selector connected with the pump and the respective engine-cylinders and adapted to supply the cylinders in succession with compressed motive-fluid from the pump, and connections between the pump and the selector including a reservoir of substantial capacity for accumulating motive-fluid un der pressure.

5. Engine starting apparatus having, in combination, an electric device adapted to operateeither as a generator or as a motor, a storage-battery connected therewith and normally charged thereby, means for producing combustible mixture and forcing it into an engine, .said means including a pump, and gearing adapted to connect the electric device with said pump and with the engine, said gearing being operable either to permit the electric device to actuate the pump and the engine or to permit the engine to actuate the electric device to charge the storage-battery.

6. The combination, with a multi cylincler internal-combustion engine, of starting apparatus comprising an air-pump, an electric device for actuating the pump, means for introducing fuel into the air compressed by the pump, an automatic selector connected with the pump and the respective enginecylinders, the selector being adapted to supply the cylinders singly, in succession, with combustible mixture from the pump when or after each piston has reached a deadcenter or started on the expansion-stroke,-

and connections between the pump and the selector including a reservoir of substantial capacity for accumulating pressure between successive starting-impulses;

7. Engine starting apparatus having, in combination, an electric device'adapted to operate either as a generator or as a motor, a storage-battery connected therewith and normally charged thereby, means for producing combustible mixture and forcing it into the engine, said means including a pump and gearing adapted to connect the electric-device with said pump and with the engine, said gearing being operable, under manual control, either to permit the electric device to actuate the pump and not the engine, or to actuate both the pump and the engine, or to permit the engine to actuate the electric device to charge the storagebattery.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB.

Witnesses:

FARNUM F. DORSEY, D. GURNEE. 

